Hello hello hello!! Most of you probably heard about the Allen Premium Outlets shooting on Saturday. It was so sad hearing about the people that were injured and killed. That mall is in our area and about 5 miles away from us. Please keep the families of those victims in your prayers. Apart from that event this week up here in Mckinney was pretty good.
On Tuesday we went on exchanges and I went with Elder Bowen in their area (The other half of the Spanish branch) We visited an inactive member Hermano Garcia. He broke his arm a few weeks ago and Elder Bowen gave him a blessing last week. We checked in to see how he was doing. Elder Bowen gave the blessing in what Spanish he could and did the rest in English. So he apologized if he wasn’t able to understand all of it. Hermano Garcia said it didn’t matter what language was used for the blessing because it was in the language of the spirit. It was cool hearing that and knowing he still had a lot of faith. He then told us this story. I’ve heard this story before but it was cool to hear it in Spanish.:
“A fellow was stuck on his rooftop in a flood. He was praying to God for help. Soon a man in a rowboat came by and the fellow shouted to the man on the roof, “Jump in, I can save you.” The stranded fellow shouted back, “No, it’s OK, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me.” So the rowboat went on. Then a motorboat came by. “The fellow in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.” To this the stranded man said, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.” So the motorboat went on. Then a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, “Grab this rope and I will lift you to safety.” To this the stranded man again replied, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and he is going to save me. I have faith.” So the helicopter reluctantly flew away. Soon the water rose above the rooftop and the man drowned. He went to Heaven. He finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God, at which point he exclaimed, “I had faith in you but you didn’t save me, you let me drown. I don’t understand why!” To this God replied, “I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter, what more did you expect?”
On Wednesday night we met this guy named Jose. We were knocking some doors at this trailer park an knocked on Jose’s door. He immediately let us in and started asking us a bunch of questions about where we were from, how long we’ve been out, etc. He was a super nice guy. Jose thanked us for what we do as missionaries. He talked a lot about how hard the work we do is and how we do it such a young age and the sacrifices we make like leaving our families, friends, school, and everything behind to preach the gospel. We also talked about things we like to do for fun and just had a really good conversation. Then we shared the message of the Restoration and the spirit was super strong. He mentioned he just likes listening to the word of God because he’s catholic, but I’m hoping we can come back and teach him more. The spirit was just so strong and I know he felt it. But they also had a cute little 8 month old puppy that I got to hold the whole time.
On Friday we had a lesson with our friend Brittain. He is almost 16 and his parents are members but are inactive. He used to live with his mom in Arkansas but due to some big problems and challenges he was facing in his home life he went to live with his Dad and step-mom here in McKinney. This was my first lesson with him so I didn’t know what he would actually talk about. He had opened up to Elder Hansen about things he was going through but I didn’t know if he would open up to me. When we started talking he totally opened up and shared like everything that has been going on. He has been through so much. His home life in Arkansas was extremely emotionally abusive and he is battling some pretty intense feelings inside. His mom would lie to him all the time and the things he told us were pretty crazy. For his privacy I’m not gonna go into any details but the whole 1.5 hour lesson was him just ranting and letting everything out that he has been bottling up. He needs some serious prayers so please include him in yours. He has delt with so many problems and continues to deal with problems that a 15 year old should never have to go to. He battles a lot of feelings of depression and loneliness. He was homeschooled and has already graduated cause he has his GED or something. So he doesn’t really have any friends or anyone to turn to. He told us that he doesn’t really even get the affection he needs at home. He said, “Sometimes I just want a hug from my Mom, but she won’t even give me that.” That just broke my heart. I know my mom would hug me in a heartbeat but I also know the pain of not receiving a hug from a loved one. It’s been a long 21 months haha. But all of that aside, he knows he finds peace in the gospel. He has really taught me a lot just in the few times I’ve spoken with him. His step-mom and his Dad are both members but really in-active and have no desire of coming back even with Brittain meeting with us and wanting to be baptized.
Talking with Brittain, he battles a lot of things in his home and day-to-day life. We also have our own individual challenges that we struggle with everyday. Brittain does everything he can to find peace. One place he finds peace is church. He LOVES church so much. He told us that he wished church was every single day. Church allows him to get away from the world and feel the presence of the Holy Ghost. Isn’t that what church should be for us? Our lives are filled with tempations, challenges, setbacks, and yet we have a place to go every single week to find solace. In our crazy world we have the opportunity to partake of the sacrament, to feast spiritually, and to find rest. It is often easy to think of attending church as a chore. It’s something we do to check off a list or something we have to do. It shouldn’t be like that. Going to church is an escape, a refuge from the outside world. But do we always have that attitude when we go? Sacrament meeting can often become something we take for granted. This Sunday please take the time to sit and reflect on how you feel. Sit in the chapel, listen to the speakers, sing the hymns, and enjoy the rest. Enjoy the peace that comes from worshipping our Heavenly Father and remembering the sacrifice that Christ made for each and every one of us.
Okay some context real quick. Brittain’s step-mom and his Dad have their records in our Branch (The Spanish Branch) But he doesn’t really speak any Spanish. So he attends the Mckinney 2nd ward which is right before ours. So the Mckinney 2nd ward had a cinco de mayo+1 party on Saturday and Brittain went. He’s been to a few ward activities and dances so he’s starting to get to know some of the youth. We went with him to the party and had a lesson before it started. We read 3 Nephi 11 with him and it was super cool. He also set his skateboard ontop of one of the pillars of the pavillion we were under not knowing that it was hollow, so he dropeed it inside and we had elder hansen and him climb in there to get it haha. It was quite the sight to see.
At Branch council we talked about one of the ladies in the branch that has been battling cancer for a long time. She has been in and out of the hospital and has not been doing good. We discussed some things the ward can do to support them but ultimately they’re just waiting for her to pass on. This morning Hermano Ruiz (This woman’s husband) texted us and asked if we could give her a blessing. We were out shopping and it was just super inconvenient. I thought about just waiting til 6:00 after P-day but we knew better than that. We dropped our milk and stuff in the other Elder’s fridge and drove straight to their house. She is completely bed ridden and on oxygen and stuff. It was super sad. When we got there Hermano Ruiz told us it wasn’t a blessing of health but a blessing of comfort. Just hearing that was just so sad. He asked me to give her the blessing. I was super nervous because I have never given a full blessing in Spanish before. But I gave it my best and the spirit was super strong. The gift of tongues is definitely real. Basically in the blessing I said that her Heavenly Father is excited to embrace her and is excited to see her not be in pain anymore. That she would be filled with joy, peace, and tranquility in these last moments of her life. It was such a sad moment but also happy because of the plan of salvation. We left, grabbed our groceries, and headed back to the apartment to grab our stuff. We came here to the church for Zone P-day to build some legos!! But as we started, Hermano Ruiz texted us and let us know that she had passed onto the other side of the veil. It was just heartbreaking. In my head I just kept thinking about how we thought about waiting til 6:00 to give her a blessing. Even though it wasn’t a direct prompting to give her that blessing because they asked us to do it, it still was a reminder to never post-pone a prompting. I was reminded of the many talks by President Monson on spiritual promptings. One of his quotes that we have back home is, “Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.”
This week was pretty eventful and filled with ups and downs. Through it all I have strengthened my testimony on the power of the priesthood, and the plan of Salvation. God has a plan for each and every one of us. We are so unbelievably blessed with the knowledge that Christ overcame physical death so that we could also become resurrected as he was; the knowledge that he overcame spiritual death so that we can repent, change, and become perfected in him. This Gospel is true. This church is the restored church of Jesus Christ. The same church that he established. Don’t forget to count your many blessings. I love you all! Muchos besos! And remember, God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good!!
All my love
Elder Grubbs
